Glenn Beck versus James O’Keefe

Increasingly unpopular television clown and radio revivalist Glenn Beck confused folks on the left and right recently when his “news” website The Blaze published a thorough and fair debunking of the recent NPR “sting” video produced by youthful video prankster and unprincipled conservative smear artist James O’Keefe. From Glenn Beck versus James O’Keefe It’s like… Continue reading Glenn Beck versus James O’Keefe

Green Development? Not in My (Liberal) Backyard

Park Slope, Brooklyn. Cape Cod, Mass. Berkeley, Calif. Three famously progressive places, right? The yin to the Tea Party yang. But just try putting a bike lane or some wind turbines in their lines of sight. From NYTimes.com A must read article.

Wis. Dems Claim 45 Percent Of Needed Signatures For Recalls | TPMDC

In the latest development in Wisconsin, after the passage of Republican Gov. Scott Walker’s new law curtailing public employee unions, state Democrats claim that they have reached 45% of their goal for petition signatures to recall eight Republican state Senators From TPMDC Walker is safe until the end of the year, assuming they don’t try… Continue reading Wis. Dems Claim 45 Percent Of Needed Signatures For Recalls | TPMDC

GOP’s Continuing Resolution Cuts Funding for National Weather Service, FEMA

Back in February 2009, Republicans found a lot of risible spending in the stimulus bill. In his response to the State of the Union, Gov. Bobby Jindal, R-La., derided the stimulus for including “$140 million for something called volcano monitoring.” The gripe was mostly that the funding, mostly for U.S. Geological Survey upkeep, wasn’t stimulative.… Continue reading GOP’s Continuing Resolution Cuts Funding for National Weather Service, FEMA

Millions saved in Japan by good engineering and government building codes

Had any other populous country suffered the 8.9 magnitude earthquake that shook Japan on Friday, tens of thousands of people might already be counted among the dead. So far, Japan’s death toll is in the hundreds, although it is certain to rise somewhat. Over the years, Japan has spent billions of dollars developing the most… Continue reading Millions saved in Japan by good engineering and government building codes

The View From Rush Limbaugh’s Recession

One way to look at this is that when Rush Limbaugh really thinks the “sloth and laziness” of Americans mostly consists of jailed drunks on disability and equivalent cases. Another interpretation is that he lacks the courage of his convictions the minute matters move from the abstract to the real. From The Daily Dish Another… Continue reading The View From Rush Limbaugh’s Recession

Rand Paul to EPA: Don’t protect Kentucky

If there was one form of disastrous pollution you would think everyone would readily agree the Environmental Protection Agency should regulate, it would be mountaintop removal coal mining. It’s hard to think of a modern industrial practice that does more damage than the one that blows up the top of mountains, fills up stream beds… Continue reading Rand Paul to EPA: Don’t protect Kentucky